Avoiding Staff Events

Is it bad to never go to any staff parties? I rarely attend them. Actually, I don't think I have gone to a single one all year. I don't enjoy them and don't have much to say to most of my coworkers.

Most of them are foreigners working here. So am I. But very few of them seem to know any local people or have made any effort to get involved in the local community.

What's the point of living overseas if you just hang out with your own kind? Are they here just to make money and have a holiday?

Goodbye to a Collegue

I just got the news on Friday moring that a collegue has died. It was very sudden. She was only in her thirties. She was on medical leave for most of last year, but returned to work this year because she was doing better. But our schedules didn't really match, so I hardly saw her this year. I didn't even know that she was going to take 2 weeks medical leave to get chemotherapy.

She checked into the hospital because she felt sick and died from cardiac arrest.

I think her death is a reminder to us.....that life is short. That any of us can die at any time. Also, there is a reason why things happen.

There was supposed to be a big event on Friday night. Even though most of us were still in shock and sad, we went ahead with it. We felt that she would have been embarassed or felt guilty if we had cancelled it because of her.

Anyways, we will all miss her. I am sure she is in a better place.

Being Polite

I have always been polite to taxi drivers and cashiers. Maybe that's the way I was raised. Or I think that if I say thank you and make polite small talk, people will act nicer to me.

Or maybe I feel sorry for people who have to drive cabs all day to make a living or who are stuck behind the counter dealing with loud and rude customers all day.

The cashier at the supermarket seemed happier after I talked to her.

Our conversation:

Me: Hello. How are you?
Cashier: Fine. How are you?
Me: Good. You have to work on the holiday? (It's Vesak Day)
Cashier: Yes, but I get double pay!
Me: That's good.
Cashier: We are open every day. Even on Christmas.
Me: That's too bad.
Cashier: It's okay. I can do it. I can't if I was married.

Social Control

Why do the buses and MRT stop so early? I hate trying to get home late at night. I don't want to keep spending money on taxis. Why can't there be buses like every half an hour after midnight or something?

Is this some kind of social control or is it purely economics? Not enough people will take buses or the train after midnight, so there aren't any? Or one of the higher ups think that by not offering them, people will stay off the streets? We can't have lot of people gathering outside?? Might start a crime wave?? I wonder.....

This is one of the most annoying things here. Lack of transport late at night if you don't own a car.

Election Day

Tomorrow is election day. Some of my friends don't get to vote. Walkovers. Wonder what percentage the PAP will end up with in the end. I am going to guess around 65%.